Kassidy and her friends left school on September 6, they stopped at a McDonald’s in Harbor City before going home. A woman approached Kassidy, and for reasons only she knew, backed her up in a corner while shouting “What the F are you staring at?” “I fight kids, I will fight you.” The woman proceeded to beat Kassidy and pull her hair. The teen eventually ended up on the floor with the woman pummeling her. At some point, a man who may have accompanied the woman pulls her off. There was no motive for the attack, and Kassidy does not know her assailant. CBS Los Angeles reports that there was a protest outside of the McDonald’s over the weekend. Civil rights activist Najee Ali, who is the Director of Project Islamic Hope, was on hand and issued a statement:
Families, leaders, and community members are calling for the arrest of this woman and criminal charges to be filed against the adult McDonald’s employees who failed to call the police or intervene while the child was being beaten. The Sherrice Iverson Law makes it illegal for adults not to help or call the police if a child is being sexually abused or brutally beaten.
Police have no leads. If she is located, she will be charged with abuse and battery.
Aside from Kassidy talking to the TV station and the police, there is plenty of cellphone footage of the attack. Because, as people are wont to do in this day and age, it is much more appealing to film a crime than to step in and stop one. Even if, in this case, it is being perpetrated against a helpless and innocent 13-year-old girl.
People who watched the incident did not want to get involved for fear of being drawn into violence. In the same way that Daniel Penny was prosecuted, this could also be used as an excuse to beat Kassidy. The criminality of California and how people act could be used. This is a weak, dishonorable excuse.
Kassidy said that Fox 11 was aware of the video being circulated at her school and that some of her classmates were enjoying its entertainment value.
The rhetoric is understandable. Californians are getting what they voted for. Or, “This is the result of L.A.’s approach to crime,” or something else about Soros prosecutors. But let’s take a moment to rethink it. Kassidy was attacked without cause. And everyone seemed to be enjoying the attack. Yet no one felt the need to defend her.
8 News Now reported the same thing, that a 17-year-old who killed an elderly cyclist in Las Vegas will be charged as an adult with murder. A video of the incident has been shared on social media. Several outlets have commented that, because the killer is black and the victim white, the murder was motivated by race. They believe that mainstream media outlets are downplaying the racial aspect.
That the media plays fast and loose with race and leverages it whenever possible is not in dispute. But consider the fact that the man who decided to blow past me and drive on top of the concrete medium and flip me off — all because he did not want to sit through a red light — was white. So was the twenty-something who challenged me to a fight at the grocery store because he was not watching where he was going and ran into me.
Our society is not perfect. There have been thefts, riots, and violent crimes in the past. However, they have never happened at such a rapid pace.
We may feel powerless over bad laws and an agendized media that dominates not just the old-guard outlets but threatens to do the same to the new ones. We may be tempted to decide that we cannot defeat the Marble Mafia and the various activists that feast on its kills. But we can decide who we will be. That may seem futile or even comical, but it is up to us to retain or reject our humanity, even in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.
